The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he admitted that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
